In prior art drill bits, the carbide cutting element is fixed to the drill body by a brazing or similar process. In past practice, a U-shaped copper clip or shim has been placed between the element and the drill body so that the legs of the clip extend between the planar sides of the cutting element and side surfaces defined by a transverse slot formed in the drill body. During the fabrication operation, the copper clip is brazed to the drill body thereby fusing the carbide element to the drill body.
In order to maximize drilling efficiency, the center line of the carbide element should be coincident with the rotational axis of the drill body. The prior art clip described above did not insure alignment between the cutting element and the drill body. Centering of the component parts was done during assembly by the workmen and as should be apparent, a great deal of time and effort was required. In general, the cutting element was aligned during the brazing operation by manually tapping the side of the element until it appeared visually aligned with the drill body. This tedious task was done while the components were heated to relatively high temperatures and moreover, was basically a trial and error operation, dependent primarily on the skill of the workmen. An error on the part of the workmen would produce a misalignment in the cutting element that would be manifested during drill use as an oversized hole, reduced drilling efficiency and possibly drill overheating. If the misalignment was recognized prior to shipment, costly reworking would be required to rectify the misalignment. If reworking did not correct the defective assembly, the entire drill bit would have to be scrapped.